RadNet (NASDAQ:RDNT) Might Be Having Difficulty Using Its Capital Effectively

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3 hours ago

If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at RadNet (NASDAQ:RDNT) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.
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Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for RadNet:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.029 = US$83m ÷ (US$3.3b - US$505m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).
Thus, RadNet has an ROCE of 2.9%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Healthcare industry average of 10%.
Check out our latest analysis for RadNet
Above you can see how the current ROCE for RadNet compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering RadNet for free.
When we looked at the ROCE trend at RadNet, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 4.2% over the last five years. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.
In summary, despite lower returns in the short term, we're encouraged to see that RadNet is reinvesting for growth and has higher sales as a result. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 293% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So should these growth trends continue, we'd be optimistic on the stock going forward.
One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing RadNet that you might find interesting.
While RadNet may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.
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